12th/40th Battalion, Royal Tasmania Regiment

The 12th/40th Battalion, Royal Tasmania Regiment, is an Army Reserve infantry battalion of the Australian Army.

The 12th/40th Battalion, Royal Tasmania Regiment (12/40 RTR), is part of the 9th Brigade, 2nd Division.

12/40 RTR traces its lineage to 1878, when the Tasmanian Volunteer Rifle Regiment was formed. The modern Battalion was raised in 1987, and currently has two Companies.

Alpha (A) Company in northern Tasmania draws its heritage from the 12th Battalion, first raised in World War I. Bravo (B) Company in the south (Hobart), draws its lineage from the 40th Battalion. Today, 12/40 RTR is the largest Army unit in Tasmania and has a high profile in the community.

12/40 RTR activities are focussed on domestic training and Disaster Aid to the Civil Community (DACC) tasks, as well as overseas operations. The Regiment actively contributes to 2nd Division’s war-fighting capabilities and generates collective elements for offshore operations.

12/40 RTR also works and trains closely with neighbouring Army units including the 144th Signals Squadron Detachment, the 16 Light Troop of 6/13 Light Mortar Battery, and the 10th/27th Battalion, the Royal South Australia Regiment.

Members of 12/40 RTR have served on operations in Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands and, more recently, in Australia’s territorial waters to support border protection.

The Regiment contributes actively to 2nd Division’s force generation elements, upholding values that its Reserve members contribute in their civilian workplaces: teamwork, self-discipline and comradeship.

The motto of the Royal Tasmania Regiment is 'Pro Aris et Focis', meaning ‘For Altars and Hearths’ or ‘For God and Country'.